Uncovering the brain's biggest secret - Melanie E. Peffer episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 8, 2026 · 7 MIN

Uncovering the brain's biggest secret - Melanie E. Peffer

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Explore how a scientist and artist discovered how our brains transmit signals throughout the body, and laid the foundation for modern neuroscience.--In the 1860s, scientists believed they were on the verge of uncovering the brain’s biggest secret: how the brain’s signals travel through the body. They believed these impulses travelled uninterrupted along a massive web of tissue. But soon, a young artist would cut down this hypothesis, and sketch a bold new vision of how our brains work. Melanie E. Peffer details the discoveries of Golgi and Cajal.Lesson by Melanie E. Peffer, directed by Artrake Studio.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-artist-who-won-a-nobel-prize-in-medicine-melanie-pefferDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-artist-who-won-a-nobel-prize-in-medicine-melanie-peffer#digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.artrake.com/----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Eduardo Briceño, Christophe Dessalles, Heather Slater, Yuh Saito, Fabian Amels, Sandra Tersluisen, Zhexi Shan, Bárbara Nazaré, Josh Engel, Andrea Feliz, Victor E Karhel, Sydney Evans, Latora Slydell, Noel Situ, emily lam, Sid, Jordan Tang, Kent Logan, Alexandra Panzer, Declan Manning, varun, Cindy Flores, Anantha RamaKrishnan, Javier Aldavaz, Ivan Yeung, Jaime Camacho, Irene Au, Shannon Lee, Роман Валесюк, LunarQueen, Iza, Brian Elieson, Paul, Grayson Garbarino, Oge O, Weronika Falkowska, Stefano Esposito, Jan M. Brandt, Harshal, Nevin Spoljaric, Christine, Yvonne Feijoo, Sid Chanpuriya, Arjay Arcinue Dineros, RAD, Anoom Yasmin, Laura Johnson, Anoop Varghese and David Yastremski. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Uncovering the brain's biggest secret - Melanie E. Peffer

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